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El Paso County passes measure defying Obama's gun control orders

El Paso County commissioners, from left, Amy Lathen, Sallie Clark and Peggy Littleton posed before construction started on the new shooting range at Fort Carson. (Gazette file, Tom Roeder)

El Paso County's commissioners won't enforce laws — federal or state — that infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms and are prepared to face any financial consequences of not following federal law.

Weld County's commissioners on Monday will discuss a pro-Second Amendment resolution. And sheriffs in El Paso, Garfield, Larimer and Weld counties have announced similar stances.

County resolutions are typically symbolic gestures intended to show support for an issue.

Most, if not all, of the president's executive orders mean little change for local law enforcement. And any new laws will certainly be challenged, with the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately deciding what is a violation of the Constitution and what is not.

But El Paso County's commissioners don't care.

"We're being proactive and being pre-emptive," said El Paso County Commissioner Peggy Littleton, who spearheaded the pro-Second Amendment measure that passed unanimously Tuesday. "We're putting people on notice, whether it's the state legislature or at the federal level."

In his State of the State address earlier this month, Gov. John Hickenlooper called for an examination of Colorado's gun laws and for background checks on all gun purchasers. Background checks are not currently required when the purchase is from a private individual.

Document: 2nd Amendment Resolution

Obama last week urged Congress to pass new laws on gun control, including universal background checks and bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. He also signed 23 executive orders that, among other things, would make more federal data available for background checks, according to The Associated Press.

El Paso County's resolution, which urges rigorous enforcement of existing gun laws, cites two rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. One that was decided in 2008 protects an individual's right, rather than a collective right, to keep and bear arms. The other, from 2010, acknowledges that "the right of the individual to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and applies to the State."

What does this all mean?

Not much, according to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers
.

Suthers said the Supreme Court rulings cited by El Paso County basically say that state and local governments can't ban ownership of weapons, but the opinions didn't go much beyond that.

Suthers said counties and other government entities can have opinions on federal issues, but that's about as far as their reach on constitutional issues goes.

"They don't get to decide," Suthers said. "The Supreme Court gets to decide the parameters of Second Amendment rights."

Still, Weld County will move forward with discussion of its resolution in support of Second Amendment rights. The document is still being crafted and will not be available for public review until Friday, Commissioner Sean Conway said.

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Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said last week that he would not enforce any new gun-control regulations that infringe on the Second Amendment.

"We support our sheriff on this issue, that he is going to continue to uphold citizens' rights under the Second Amendment," Conway said, adding that Weld County's resolution will probably be more generic in nature.

Conway said the Weld County attorney examined the president's 23 executive orders and found they will have little impact in terms of enforcement.

Still, the commissioners felt the issue was important enough to put their support for the Second Amendment on the public record, Conway said.

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith also said he would not enforce new gun-control measures, although he later softened his position. Right now, the Board of Commissioners has no plans to pass anything in support of the Second Amendment, Commissioner Steve Johnson said
.

"He has the right to his opinion," Johnson said of Smith, "and we respect his operation of his office as he sees fit."

Personally, Johnson said, he believes all Colorado sheriffs should enforce all laws, unless those laws are overturned.

"It's not really a matter I think that is the business of the county commission," he said.

As for El Paso County, Commissioner Littleton said the board is well aware that federal money could be yanked if federal laws are not enforced there.

But she said that's a risk the county is willing to take.

"We're going to have to deal with the consequences of it," Littleton said.

Colorado Municipal League chief Sam Mamet
did not know of any cities considering similar resolutions.

Colorado Counties Inc. executive director Chip Taylor
said he knows of no other counties with resolutions against proposed gun-control regulations on the table. El Paso County sent its proposal to Colorado Counties Inc.

"I appreciate that people feel strongly about it," Taylor said. "I'm not entirely surprised to see them express their opinion."

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